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To: IronJack

One sentence

North had recources to feed prisoners but did not and refused swap for your beloved Federals at Andersonville


138 posted on 07/13/2013 4:48:35 PM PDT by wardaddy (the next Dark Ages are coming as Western Civilization crumbles with nary a whimper)
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To: wardaddy
North had recources to feed prisoners but did not and refused swap for your beloved Federals at Andersonville

So did the South but they starved them to death anyway. And prisoner exchanges were halted because the rebels refused to consider black Union - the ones they didn't murder first that is - to be soldiers.

141 posted on 07/13/2013 6:05:40 PM PDT by 0.E.O
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To: wardaddy

Where the US didn’t have resources to feed prisoners, such as Appomattox Courthouse or Vicksburg, many thousands of soldiers were paroled, without exchange, and they were given what food was available.


145 posted on 07/13/2013 7:17:45 PM PDT by donmeaker (Blunderbuss: A short weapon, ... now superceded in civilized countries by more advanced weaponry.)
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To: wardaddy
North had recources to feed prisoners but did not and refused swap for your beloved Federals at Andersonville

The lack of resources is not much of an excuse for maltreating prisoners. The Confederates captured prisoners knowing full well they couldn't feed them.

In all fairness to the Confederates, much of the suffering at Andersonville was inflicted by prisoners on each other. It was truly a "survival of the fittest" scenario, with gangs preying on weaker gangs or unaffiliated prisoners ... about what you would expect when life is reduced to its basest elements.

Which is not to minimize the sadism and brutality of some of the Rebel guards, who would entice starving men across the "dead line" and then shoot them for sport.

164 posted on 07/14/2013 6:51:59 AM PDT by IronJack (=)
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